cpu

hi, i was just wondering which cpu is best for frequent gaming. i cant decide wether to go AMD or intel. or which one to get. ive looked on scan and ive seen some amd hex core cpus but i havent a clue tbh
can anyone suggest cpus to look at?

budget?

do you have any other parts you want to be using on this? because it sounds like a CPU + MoBo question at the mo

i have a budget of about £200 for the cpu - preferably cheaper. and ye i will be needin a new moboard too which i also have £ 200 budget for. ideally a modern one so i can use windows 7 and ddr3 ram ect...

not sure if ur building a whole new computer but with a budget of 400 pounds for just a mobo and cpu i thought u might be interested in scans today only for £420, its a good spec pc and stick a hd 6870 and ur sorted

scans today only combo deal:
Xclio Godspeed Two Advanced Black Mid Tower Case with 2 x180mm Side Fans, w/o PSU
550W Coolermaster GX550, 80 PLUS, 85% Eff', SLI/CrossFire, EPS 12V, 120mm Fan
Intel Core i5 2500K Unlocked, 1155, Sdy Bridge, QuadCore, 3.3GHz, GPU 850Mhz, 6MB Cache, 95W, Retail
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4-B3, Intel P67 Express, S 1155, PCI-E 2.0 (x16), DDR3 2133, SATA 6gb/s
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS3 Classic DDR3 PC3-12800 (1600), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 9-9-9-24, 1.5V
1TB Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3, SATA 3Gb/s, 7200rpm, 32MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ, OEM
Pioneer DVR-S19LBK 24x DVD±R, 12x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, RAM x12, SATA, Black, Retail Labelflash

thats everything apart from ur graphics card

today only link:
http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/index.aspx

you really cant go wrong with an intel i5-2500k which is comfortably within your budget range. For the mobo, it depends how many perks like sli and stuff you need, but there are some p67 boards for less than £100.

but wait until you've had a chat with CAT-THE-FIFTH - is that a suggestion for an X4 Phenom II 955 Black Edition I hear a-coming?

Well the mobo in today only supports crossfire and sli and i think the price of £420 is quite good but cat will be here soon :D

EDIT: CATS's hexus build
£500 Hexus gaming build

CPU - Athlon II X3 450

Cost: £55 ~ £60

The AMD Athlon II X3 is our choice for the CPU this month. Running at 3.2GHZ across its three cores it offers excellent performance for under £60.

Modification potential- The Athlon II X3 is based on harvested Athlon II X4 and Phenom II X4 CPUs. AM3 motherboards with ACC have the potential to unlock an Athlon II X3 to an Athlon II X4 or Phenom II X4. With aftermarket cooling expect overclocks in the 3.5GHZ to 3.8GHZ range.

Motherboard - Biostar TA870+ or Asus M4A87TD/USB3

Cost: £65 ~ £70

Both these motherboards support 140W CPUs and use the SB850 southbridge meaning SATA 3.0 support. They also have USB3.0 too.

Modification potential- Both motherboards have ACC meaning core unlocking is possible.

RAM - 4GB 1600MHZ DDR3

Cost: £35 to £40

Case - Casecom K5-9388

Cost: £30

This case is our recommendation for this month as it offers excellent cooling for a budget price and comes with provision for both 120MM and 140MM fans.

Hard Disk - Samsung F3 500GB

Cost:£30 to £35

With it single platter design and low cost the Samsung F3 500GB is our choice for this month.

Power Supply - Antec HCG 520W

Cost: £56

Based on the Seasonic S12-II design this PSU also comes complete with a pair of PCI-E power connectors. It also boats high effiency, a solid 12V line and UK RMA.

Graphics card - MSI HD6850 Cyclone Power Edition OC or MSI GTX 460 Cyclone OC Edition

Cost: £135 to £140.

Offering large factory overclocks and a quiet cooler the MSI Cyclone editions get our vote this month.


SATA DVD rewriter

Cost: £12

Operating System - Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Cost: £75

My £500 build does include a graphics card,a better PSU and a copy of Windows 7!! :D

It will be cheaper now since the GTX460 1GB can be had for around £120.

What resolution does the OP run their games at??

TBH,either a Phenom II X4 955BE for games which are more multi-threaded or a Core i3-2100 for most other games will do the job.

You don't need to spend £150+ on a CPU if you are gamer. Remember this: a Core i5 2500 is faster than a Core i7 950 in most games and this will mean the vast majority of gamers will have a slower CPU for the next few years. OTH,it really depends if you want to spend £150+ on a CPU.

Look at the Steam Hardware survey for example:

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

Regarding the motherboard, £200 seems a bit excessive. Around £70 to £100 will do for an AMD one even if you want Crossfire. An Intel motherboard which can do Crossfire will be £120 to £150 or £80 to £110 if you want a decent motherboard and will run only one card.

With that budget I'd go for the i5 2500k. Best CPU for the money tbh. Also £40 change from your budget if bought on scan.

As for your mobo £200 is a lot of money. Just a quick look on scan shows there are plenty of decent p67 boards supporting both single and double GPU configurations for under £200. Literally brand loyalty and whether you want crossfire / sli is what dictates what you want to pay.

I'd stay away from AMD if you can afford to atm. The phenoms just aren't as good as the sandybridge cpus atm. Bulldozer may change the playing field, but god knows when AMD will actually give us any concrete data on that and when they will launch.

thanks alot guys, just to make sure im right- http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel...che-95w-retail is that the one your on about?
theres an OEM and retail one. dunno what the differnece between the two is :) lol

ive just had a look at the p67 motherboards, im not sure they will run this RAM which i was planning on getting http://www.scan.co.uk/products/12gb-...9-10-9-27-165v i checked the asus sabretooth out and a few others.